Multiple entity control of access restrictions for media playback

ABSTRACT

Multiple entity control of access restrictions for media playback may include a first entity receiving a request for a media resource hosted by a third-party entity, the first entity authorizing a user to access the requested media resource and providing an indication to the third-party entity that the user is authorized to access the requested media resource, the third-party entity authenticating the user based upon a qualification specification, and delivering the requested media resource to the user.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/482,390 filed on Jun. 24, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of computing. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatusfor multiple entity control of access restrictions for media playback.

2. Background Information

With advances in integrated circuit, microprocessor, networking andcommunication technologies, an increasing number of digital computingdevices are being networked together to facilitate the exchange ofelectronic information. Accordingly, traditional audio and video contentproviders such as radio and television studios, recording associations,independent recording artists, and so forth, are turning to digitalcommunication networks such as the Internet for dissemination anddistribution of media content.

More specifically, traditional audio and video content providers such astelevision and news networks have turned to Internet based contentproviders who are more adapted for digital content distribution to hostdigital versions of the networks' audio and video content. With currenthosting arrangements, however, access to the digital content istypically controlled by the Internet based content providers.Accordingly, the sources of the content are typically not provided withample name branding opportunities, or with the ability to control useraccess to digital content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described by way of exemplary embodiments,but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying drawings in whichlike references denote similar elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an environment for controlling access restrictions tomedia resources, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an example operational flow forone embodiment of the profile management services of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example graphical interface to facilitatemanagement of a remote content control profile by a user, in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example operational flow forthe generation of a media resource request, in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an operational flow for oneembodiment of access control logic 106 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example data structure suitable for storing mediaaccess rules, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example environment to facilitate multiple entitycontrol of access restrictions for media playback, in accordance withone embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 illustrates an example computer system suitable for practicingthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes multiple entity control of accessrestrictions for media playback. In the description to follow, variousaspects of the present invention will be described, and specificconfigurations will be set forth. However, the present invention may bepracticed with only some or all aspects, and/or without some of thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known features are omitted orsimplified in order not to obscure the present invention.

The description will be presented in terms of operations performed by aprocessor based device consistent with the manner commonly employed bythose skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. As is well understood by those skilled in the art,the quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic, or optical signalscapable of being stored, transferred, combined, and otherwisemanipulated through mechanical, electrical and/or optical components ofthe processor based device.

Various operations will be described as multiple discrete steps in turn,in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention,however, the order of description should not be construed as to implythat these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular,these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.

The description repeatedly uses the phrase “in one embodiment”, whichordinarily does not refer to the same embodiment, although it may. Theterms “comprising”, “including”, “having”, and the like, as used in thepresent application, are synonymous.

Overview

FIG. 1 illustrates an environment for controlling access restrictions tomedia resources, in accordance with one embodiment. As illustrated,server 102 and client 110 are communicatively coupled via networkingfabric 100 which may represent one or more interconnected data networks,such as, but not limited to the Internet or World Wide Web. Client 110and server 102 may each represent a broad range of digital systems knownin the art, including but not limited to devices such as wireless mobilephones, palm sized personal digital assistants, notebook computers,desktop computers, set-top boxes, and game consoles. In one embodiment,server 102 may provide one or more requested media resources 125 toclient 110, based upon one or more content control attributes containedin content control profile 132 originally specified by a user via useraccount 129.

Client 110 may be equipped with a user agent (112) such as a web browseror media rendering/player application, to access electronic document/webpage 115 to view content containing references to media resources, andto formulate and transmit network requests for media resources to server102. For example, client 110 may generate (via user agent 112) a mediaresource request in response to a user indicating their desire to accessa particular media resource associated with electronic document/web page115 and displayed via user agent 112. The terms “media resource” and“media content” are each interchangeably intended to broadly refer todigital or analog data such as, but not limited to audio and video(including motion video and still images) clips, files, and streams,whether alone or combined, that may be accessible by a useragent/client.

Server 102 may be equipped with profile management services 107, accesscontrol logic 106, and data store 108. Data store 108 may represent oneor more volatile or non-volatile data storage mechanisms/devices thatmay be internal or external to server 102. In one embodiment, data store108 may contain stored user accounts 129 and corresponding user-specificcontent control profiles 130, as well as media access rules 127 andmedia resources 125. In one embodiment, a user may access profilemanagement services 107 of server 102 to create and/or manage a contentcontrol profile authorizing one or more classes of media content fordelivery to client 110. In one embodiment, media access rules 127 mayassociate media resources, such as media resources 125 stored in datastore 108, with appropriate classes of media content. In one embodiment,requested media resources that are determined to be associated with anauthorized class of media content may be delivered to client 110,whereas requested media resources that are determined to be associatedwith a non-authorized class of media content may not be delivered toclient 110. In one embodiment, a local representation of content controlprofile 130, including one or more content control attributes, may bestored on client 110 for use by client 110 in generating requests fordelivery of media resources. In one embodiment of the invention, accesscontrol logic 106 may contain request handler 142, authorization logic144, and delivery engine 146 to facilitate server 102 in receiving mediaresource requests from client devices, determining whether the requestedmedia resource should be delivered to the requesting clients, anddelivering the requested media resource or facilitating the delivery ofthe requested media resource by another server.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, server 102 mayreceive media resource requests from client 110 that include one or moreattributes of content control profile 132. In one embodiment, accesscontrol logic 106 may determine whether the requestor (e.g. client 110)is entitled to access the requested media resource (e.g. based uponmedia access rules 127), and whether the content class associated withthe requested media resource has been authorized by the user to bedelivered to the requestor (e.g. based upon one or more attributes ofcontent control profile 132). The term “requestor” is used herein tobroadly refer to an originator of a media resource request including butnot limited to a device such as client 110, a software component orapplication such as user agent 112, an individual such as the requestinguser operating client 110 that initiates a media resource request, andso forth.

Content Control Profile

In one embodiment of the invention, server 102 may be equipped withprofile management services 107 to facilitate in the creation andmanagement of user-specific content control profiles. FIG. 2 is a flowdiagram illustrating an example operational flow for profile managementservices 107, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

As shown, the content control profile management process may begin by auser signing-in to an existing user account (129) on server 102, block202. In response, profile management services 107 may then make adetermination as to whether a corresponding remote content controlprofile, such as content control profile 130, exists for the user, block204. If so, profile management services 107 may effect the graphicaland/or textual display of the user's current content control profile,block 206, and further enable a user to update and save changes to theircontent control profile, block 208. Thereafter, a representationincluding one or more content control attributes of the updated contentcontrol profile may be stored locally on the user's client for use bythe client in generating a media resource request, block 210.

If, however, at block 204 it is determined that a corresponding remotecontent control profile corresponding to the user does not alreadyexist, profile management services 107 may cause a generic contentcontrol profile to be displayed, block 212. In turn, the user may chooseto define a new content control profile by providing one or more contentcontrol attributes/settings, block 214. In response, the content controlprofile may then be associated with the appropriate user account 129(block 216), and a local representation of the newly created contentcontrol profile may be stored on the user's client, block 210.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example graphical interface to facilitatemanagement of a remote content control profile by a user, in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. In one embodiment, profileinterface 300 may provide an arbitrary number of content control vectorsthrough which a user may define the classes of content that they wish toauthorize to be delivered to a client device. In the illustratedembodiment, profile interface 300 contains three content qualificationvectors (Language, Violence, and Nudity), each having four decreasinglyrestrictive levels of control. It should be noted, however, that thelevels of control may be definable based on arbitrary granularities.

For example, the content control attributes of profile interface 300indicate that a user has chosen to allow the delivery of media resourcesthat at a maximum may contain slang language, no violence and no nudityor sexual activity. However, a user could have elected to allow thedelivery of any media resource regardless of the type of language used,the amount of violence portrayed and/or the amount of nudity/sexualactivity shown. In one embodiment, profile interface 300 may furtherprovide facilities for a user to save changes made to a given contentcontrol profile. In one embodiment, profile interface 300 may beimplemented as an HTML Form whose values (e.g. as determined by theuser-selected content control attributes/settings) may be submitted to aserver, such as server 102 indicated as part of the HTML Formimplementing code, in response to the user electing to save any changesmade to the form using e.g. “save changes” button 302.

In one embodiment, the local representation of the content controlprofile may be transmitted to the client as a block of extensible markuplanguage (XML) based data that causes an HTTP cookie to be written andstored on the client. In one embodiment, the local content controlprofile may contain any or all content control attributes defined in thecontent control profile via e.g. profile interface 300. For example, apartial XML structure that may be used by profile management services107 to store a local representation of the content control profilespecified in FIG. 3 might appear as follows:

<Language> L0 </Language> <Violence> V0 </Violence> <Nudity> N0</Nudity>;where L0, V0, and N0 may each represent a particular content controlattribute used in defining a class of content.The Request

As mentioned above, client 110 may request delivery of a particularmedia resource from server 102. The requested media resource may, forexample, be identified by one or more uniform resource indicators (URIs)or one or more uniform resource locators (URLs). In one embodiment, aURL used to request a media resource may take the following form:

“PROTOCOL://<HOST>:<PORT>/<PATH>?<SEARCHPART>”;Where the <protocol> field tells the server how to retrieve therequested resource, the <host> field represents the fully qualifieddomain name of a network host such as server 102, or its IP address, andthe <port> field indicates the port number to connect to on the host.The remainder of the locator consists of the “URL-Path”, which suppliesthe details of how the specified resource can be accessed on the host.In addition, the <searchpart> is a query string that may be used to passinformation to the <host>. In one embodiment, the <searchpart> of a URLcontained within electronic document 115 may contain a content orpartner identifier (i.e. PID) that indicates (whether directly orindirectly) a particular content class to which the associated resourcebelongs.

The term “content class” is used herein to broadly describe a logical orphysical grouping of information or media content into one or morecategories. The classification categories may be predefined by e.g. acontent provider or other party, or the classification categories may bearbitrarily and/or dynamically defined based on one or more criteria,for example. In one embodiment, each media resource may be classifiedinto one or more content classes or categories, and assigned a PID tofacilitate identification of the assigned content class by server 102.In one embodiment, each content directory may be represented by a uniquePID.

In one embodiment, the requested media resource may further beidentified by one or more uniform resource indicators (URIs) or one ormore uniform resource locators (URLs) that are associated with an HTML“Form”. For example, an HTML Form used to submit a request to server 102may contain an ACTION attribute indicating a URI/URL associated with therequested media resource, a METHOD attribute indicating the type ofmethod to use when submitting the data (e.g. whether it be a GET or POSTmethod), an ENCTYPE attribute used to specify the media type used toencode the name/value pairs for transport, and a variety of optionalINPUT attributes that enable Form customization to facilitate datacollection.

To access a particular media resource, a user might, for example, select(via a user input device) a hypertext link displayed within electronicdocument 115 that corresponds to the particular media resource 125stored on server 102. In response, the corresponding user agent mightthen generate and transmit an HTTP request to server 102 having thefollowing format:

[METH] [REQUEST-URI] HTTP / [VER] [fieldnamel] : [field-value1][fieldname2] : [field-value2] [Request body, if any]

In such a request, “METH” is used to indicate the request method (e.g.“GET” or “POST”), the “REQUEST-URI” field identifies the requestedresource on the server, and “VER” indicates the version of HTTP used. Ifa GET method is used, the Form data is typically sent to the server witha “?” followed by the form_data appended to the URI specified in theACTION attribute, whereas with a POST method, the Form data is typicallysent in the body of the request. Furthermore, the fieldname/field-valuepairs represent header fields through which the user agent mayadditionally provide the server with requestor-specific attributes suchas the name of the requesting user, the type and version of user agentemployed, authorization information such as passwords and encryptionkeys, requestor entitlements/authorizations, one or more attributesassociated with a content control profile, and so forth.

In one embodiment, the requestor-specific attributes may be submitted tothe host (e.g. example server 102) in the form of an HTTP “Cookie”. Insuch an embodiment, the user agent may first compare the selectedURI/URL with a list of Cookies stored on the client. If a match isfound, a line containing the name/value pairs of matching cookies maythen be included in the HTTP request. For example, an HTTP request thatincludes a URI/URL that matches a cookie might be formed as: Cookie:Name1=Opaque_String1; Name2=Opaque_String2, where any opaque string maybe used to indicate the requestor-specific and/or content controlattributes as described above.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram for the generation of a media resourcerequest, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As shown,the process may begin with a user indicating their desire to receive amedia resource, block 402. In one embodiment, the user may manifest sucha desire by selecting, via e.g. a user input device, a hypertext linkassociated with the desired media resource from an electronicdocument/web page 115. In response, the corresponding requestor (e.g.client 110 or a software requestor) may generate a media resourcerequest (such as an HTTP based request) that includes one or morecontent control attributes of a corresponding content control profile,block 404. Thereafter, the requester may transmit the resource requestto a server such as server 102, block 406.

Access Control Logic

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an operational flow for oneembodiment of access control logic 106 of FIG. 1. In one embodiment,request handler 142 may receive media resource requests for the deliveryof media resources stored e.g. in data store 108, where the requests mayidentify (either directly or indirectly) a particular media resource, acontent class to which the indicated media resource belongs, one or morerequestor-specific attributes, and one or more content controlattributes, or any combination thereof, block 502. The media requestsmay be formed in accordance with a variety of communication protocolsand/or application-specific message formats such as HTTP, the real timestreaming protocol (RTSP), the file transfer protocol (FTP), and soforth. In one embodiment, request handler 142 may be an HTTP daemon thatwaits for HTTP based requests from web clients such as client 110equipped with user agent 112.

In one embodiment, authorization logic 144 determines whether or not therequestor is entitled to access the requested media resource based uponthe content class to which the media resource belongs and/or anentitlement level associated with the requester, block 504. In oneembodiment, authorization logic 144 may access one or more media accessrules 127 to make such a determination. In one embodiment, authorizationlogic 144 may compare the entitlement level associated with therequestor with an entitlement level associated with the content class ofthe requested media resource. If the entitlement level associated withthe requester is less than the entitlement level associated with themedia resource, the requestor may be deemed as not authorized to accessthe stored media resource and the requestor is notified accordingly,block 510. However, if the entitlement level associated with therequester is greater than or equal to the entitlement level associatedwith the media resource the requestor may be deemed authorized to accessthe stored media resource.

A further determination may then be made as to whether the requestedmedia resource belongs to a class of media that has been authorized bythe user for delivery to the requesting client device, block 506. In oneembodiment, such a determination may be made based upon a comparisonbetween one or more content control attributes (e.g. transmitted toserver 102 in association with the media resource request), and accesscontrol information associated with the particular class of mediacorresponding to the requested media resource. If it is determined thatthe requested media resource is associated with a class of media thathas not been authorized by the user for delivery to the requestingclient device, the requestor is notified accordingly, block 512.However, if it is determined that the requested media resource isassociated with a class of media that has been authorized by the userfor delivery to the requesting client device, delivery engine 146 maythen deliver the requested media resource, or facilitate delivery of therequested media resource to the requesting client/requestor, block 508.In one embodiment, delivery engine 146 may stream media resources torecipients thereby allowing playback of a media resource to begin beforethe entire media resource is received. In another embodiment, deliveryengine 146 may deliver the media resources to the requestor as staticdata files, whereby the entire media resource is received prior toplayback of the media resource beginning.

Although server 102 of FIG. 1 is shown to include the variouscomponents/logic blocks described above, it should be noted that thefunctionality of one or more of request handler 142, authorization logic144, and delivery engine 146 may be combined into fewer functionalblocks than that pictured, or may be further subdivided into additionalfunctional components/logic blocks without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. For example, although request handler 142 isshown to be part of access control logic 106, the functionality ofrequest handler 142 may instead be incorporated into the networkingprotocol stack of server 102.

Example Data Structure

FIG. 6 illustrates an example data structure suitable for storing mediaaccess rules in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Asshown, table 600 includes a number of entries/records, with each entryincluding a content/partner identifier (PID) 602 for use in identifyinga particular class of media content, an authorization code (AUTH) 604for use in identifying an entitlement level associated with thecorresponding content class, a host address 605 indicating a locationwhere media resources associated with the particular media content classmay be stored (described below), and one or more access control codes606 for use in identifying content attributes associated with the classof media content indicated by the corresponding content/partneridentifier 602.

A variety of comparison criteria may be used to determine therelationships between the various entitlement levels as well asrelationships between content control attributes and access controlcodes. Moreover, the entitlement levels, content control attributes, andaccess control codes need not necessarily be identified by numeric oralphanumeric representations, although they may.

Multiple Entity Control of Access Restrictions

In the description above, various embodiments are described in whichaccess restrictions for media playback are controlled by a first entityvia server 102, for example. In other embodiments, however, accessrestrictions for media playback may be controlled or influenced throughinteractions of multiple entities, whether the entities representbusinesses, loosely affiliated groups of people, individuals, and soforth.

For example, profile management services 107 may be hosted by one ormore separate web servers operated by a third-party entity that may beoperationally independent from the hosting of access control logic 106,media resources 125 and/or access rules 127. Similarly, media resources125 may be hosted by one or more content servers operated by athird-party content provider that also may be operationally independentfrom the hosting of access control logic 106, and/or access rules 127.The term “operationally independent” is intended to refer to theinteraction between two or more entities such as businesses, wherealthough the entities may maintain a variety of interactions or mayconduct business transactions between one another, the entitiesnevertheless operate in accordance with their own set of business rulesand/or operating policies.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, facilities areprovided such that third-party entities can participate in the contentauthorization and delivery process described herein. Such participationmay occur upstream in the resource delivery process where thethird-party provides authorization/authentication services toauthorize/authenticate requesters of media resources, or downstream inthe resource delivery process where the third-party stores and deliversthe requested media resource. By providing authorization/authenticationservices for example, a third-party may operate an e-commerce web sitewhere the third party offers their own content and merchandise branding,as well as links to content hosted by another entity. Moreover, byparticipating in the resource delivery process, a third-party may takeadvantage of the large distribution networks offered by the contentprovider while continuing to store and host their own content.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example environment to facilitate multiple entitycontrol of access restrictions for media playback, in accordance withone embodiment of the invention. In addition to server 702 and client110, FIG. 7 further includes content server 760, which is equipped tostore (i.e. host) media resources 725 for delivery to e.g. client 110.In accordance with one embodiment, server 702 is further equipped withtoken generation logic 745 for use in indicating to a third-partywhether a particular requestor is authorized by the first entity toaccess a requested media resource stored on third-party content server760. In one embodiment, server 702 generates (e.g. via token generationlogic 745) an obfuscated token in accordance with a qualificationspecification mutually recognized by both server 702 and content server760. In one embodiment the qualification specification is third-partyspecific and may specify how one or more tokens or identifiers are to begenerated such that a third-party may independently validate a tokenwhen received as part of a media resource request. In one embodiment,content server 760 is equipped with complementary tokenvalidation/authorization logic 762 to validate tokens received inassociation with media resource requests, and deliver or provide accessto the requested media resource upon authentication of the requesterand/or through e.g. successful validation of the token.

In one embodiment, such a validation process may include the independentgeneration of an obfuscated token using one or more dynamicallyascertained request-specific and/or requestor-specific attributes, andcomparing the independently generated token with the obfuscated tokenreceived in the media resource request. For example, server 760 maydynamically identify one or more requestor specific attributes such asthe requestor's network address, and compare the attributes to thisrepresented by the token in accordance with the shared qualificationspecification. If the two tokens are deemed to be equivalent (whetherexactly or within an acceptable margin of error), the requestor may beconsidered authenticated and server 760 may deliver the requested mediaresource to the requester.

Example Operational Flow

In one embodiment of the invention, client 110 may generate a mediaresource request and transmit the request to server 702. In oneembodiment the media resource request may indicate a content class towhich the requested media resource is associated and one or morerequestor-specific attributes. The requestor-specific attributes mayinclude, but are not limited to the name of the requesting user, thenetwork address of the user's client, the type and version of user agentemployed, authorization information such as passwords and encryptionkeys, requestor entitlements/authorizations including content controlattributes, and so forth.

In one embodiment, server 702 may access a data structure such as table600 to identify a network address for an appropriate third-party hostserver for the requested media resource. For example, if a mediaresource request including a URL such as“start.real.com/rd?pid=CNN_(—)222&URL=foo.smi” were to be received byserver 702, where “CNN_(—)222” represents a content/partner identifierand “foo.smi” represents the requested media resource, server 702 mayaccess table 600 using “CNN_(—)222” to identify a host address of“media.cnn.com” for the requested media resource. Thereafter, server 702may generate a response including a URL such as“rtsp://media.cnn.com/foo.smi” or “http://media.cnn.com/foo.smi”depending e.g. upon whether the requested media resource is to bestreamed to the requestor. The URL may further include a token generatedin accordance with a qualification specification determined based on theidentified “media.cnn.com” host address. As described above, the tokenmay include a variety of attributes including content control attributesto indicate to the third-party whether the user has authorized a classof content associated with the requested media resource (e.g. asdetermined by the “CNN_(—)222” content identifier) to be delivered tothe requester. Thereafter, the response including the token-equipped URLmay be provided to the in association with a redirection request.

For example, in response to an HTTP based media resource requestreceived from a requestor, server 702 may issue an HTTP response thatincludes a status code (such as 302, 303, 307 and so forth as defined inat least the following “Request for Comments” documents available from‘http://www.rfc-editor.org’: RFC 1945, RFC 2616 and RFC 2068) indicatingto the requestor that the requested resource temporarily resides under adifferent URL as indicated in the response. The requester (e.g. client110) may then resubmit the token-equipped request to the identifiedthird-party server corresponding to the URL included in the response tofacilitate delivery/retrieval of the requested media resource.

Example Client/Server Architecture

FIG. 8 illustrates an example computer system suitable for practicingthe present invention. As shown, example computer system 800 includesprocessor 802, ROM 803 including basic input/output system (BIOS) 805,and system memory 804 coupled to each other via “bus” 806. Also coupledto “bus” 806 are non-volatile mass storage 808, display device 810,cursor control device 812 and communication interface 814. Duringoperation, memory 804 may include working copies of operating system822, and access control logic (ACL) 824 of the present invention tofacilitate access restriction control for media playback.

Except for the teachings of the present invention as incorporatedherein, each of these elements may represent a wide range of thesedevices known in the art, and otherwise performs its conventionalfunctions. For example, processor 802 may execute programminginstructions of operating system 822 and sample processing logic 824,including those implementing the teachings of the present invention. ROM803 may be EEPROM, Flash and the like, and memory 804 may be SDRAM, DRAMand the like. Bus 806 may be a single bus or a multiple busimplementation. In other words, bus 806 may include multiple properlybridged buses of identical or different kinds, such as Local Bus, VESA,ISA, EISA, PCI and the like.

Mass storage 808 may represent disk drives, CDROMs, DVD-ROMs, DVD-RAMsand the like. Typically, mass storage 808 includes the permanent copy ofoperating system 822 and access control logic 824. The permanent copymay be downloaded from a distribution server through a data network(such as the Internet), or installed in the factory, or in the field.For field installation, the permanent copy may be distributed using oneor more articles of manufacture such as diskettes, CDROM, DVD and thelike, having a recordable medium including but not limited to magnetic,optical, and other mediums of the like.

Display device 810 may represent any of a variety of display typesincluding but not limited to a CRT and active/passive matrix LCDdisplay, while cursor control 812 may represent a mouse, a touch pad, atrack ball, a keyboard, and the like to facilitate user input.Communication interface 814 may represent a modem interface, an ISDNadapter, a DSL interface, an Ethernet or Token ring network interfaceand the like.

Epilog

While the present invention has been described in terms of theabove-illustrated embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognizethat the invention is not limited to the embodiments described. Thepresent invention can be practiced with modification and alterationwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Thus, thedescription is to be regarded as illustrative instead of restrictive onthe present invention.

1. A method comprising: a first entity receiving a request for a mediaresource from a user, the media resource hosted by a third-party entity;the first entity authorizing the user to access the requested mediaresource, and providing an indication to the third-party entity that theuser is authorized to access the requested media resource, theindication generated in accordance with a qualification specificationdetermined based at least in part upon the identity of the third-partyentity; and the first entity providing the third-party entity with thequalification specification, before the request is received from theuser, to enable the third-party entity to authenticate the user basedupon the qualification specification and to deliver the requested mediaresource to the user.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first entityproviding an indication to the third-party entity comprises: the firstentity notifying the user that the third-party entity is a host of therequested media resource, the first entity providing the user with anauthentication token generated in accordance with the qualificationspecification, and the first entity causing the user to present theauthentication token to the third-party entity.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the third-party entity independently verifies theauthentication token in accordance with the qualification specification.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the third-party entity isoperationally independent from the first entity and the user.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the qualification specification identifies anauthentication scheme mutually known by the first entity and thethird-party entity.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the third-partyentity streams the requested media resource to the user.
 7. A methodcomprising: a first entity receiving a request for a media resource froma user, the media resource hosted by a third-party entity; the firstentity determining whether the user is authorized to access therequested media resource; and the first entity providing an identifierto the third-party entity if it is determined that the user isauthorized to access the requested media resource, the identifiergenerated in accordance with a qualification specification based atleast in part upon the identity of the third-party entity and indicatingrights bestowed upon the user by the first entity, wherein the firstentity provides the third-party entity with the qualificationspecification, before the request is received from the user, to enablethe third-party entity to authenticate the user based upon thequalification specification and the identifier and to deliver therequested media resource to the user in accordance with the rightsbestowed by the first entity.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thefirst entity providing an identifier to the third-party entitycomprises: the first entity notifying the user that the third-partyentity is a host of the requested media resource; the first entityproviding the user with an authentication token generated in accordancewith the qualification specification; and the first entity causing theuser to present the authentication token to the third-party entity. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the third-party entity independentlyverifies the authentication token in accordance with the qualificationspecification.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the third-party entityis operationally independent from the first entity and the user.
 11. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the third-party entity streams the requestedmedia resource to the user.
 12. A method executing on a second entity,the method comprising: receiving a qualification specification from afirst entity, before the first entity receives a request for a mediaresource from a user; receiving from the user a request for the mediaresource, which is associated with the first entity but hosted at thesecond entity, the request including: an authorization indication fromthe first entity, based upon the qualification specification inaccordance with business rules governed by the first entity, and areference to the media resource, provided by the first entity; using thequalification specification, authenticating the authorizationindication; and when the authorization indication is authenticated,delivering the media resource to the user on behalf of the first entity.13. The method of claim 12, wherein authenticating the authorizationindication comprises: generating a sample authorization indication basedupon the qualification specification: and comparing the receivedauthorization indication to the sample authorization indication.
 14. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the first entity is operationallyindependent from the second entity and the user.
 15. The method of claim12, wherein the second entity streams the requested media resource tothe user.